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alsvidur's 2018 list

Jan 2, 1:28pm

This is really just a placeholder until I have more gumption or time to write more, but...let's be honest, shall we? I am not going to have enough time this year either. So, in brief, I am Emilie. I live in Michigan. I work a few jobs and take a few classes and try to keep a 160-year-old house standing under the weight of my books. In the few hours a week when I am not focused on veterinary medicine, I ride horses and do puzzles while watching reruns of Buffy, etc.

I read only a teeny tiny amount now - 2017 was down to 50-some books from the usual of 250-350. It's certainly not for lack of want. Maybe the numbers will go back up in 2019. Expect more non-fiction books about animals and the usual fluff of YA, children's books, romance/chick lit, and a few classics or history books.

Jan 5, 12:46pm

Rachel and Nick go to Singapore for a friend's wedding. While they're out there, they plan to meet Nick's parents. Nick's parents are crazy. And crazy rich. It works both ways. Too bad Nick didn't give Rachel a head's up about things, because his mother's friends go crazy since Rachel isn't good enough/from the right family.

It started out a bit rough. I couldn't really care enough about the characters at first because most of the text was describing Asian food and wealth. That seems up my alley in theory, but dropping so many designer names is one way to lose me. (My designers are Carhartt coats, Ariat riding gear, and Cherokee scrubs.) It did pick up halfway through, and I enjoyed the side stories enough to continue the series.

Edited: Jan 7, 2:40pm

Nick and Rachel go to China to meet her newly-found father, who is also very wealthy. His wife isn't thrilled with the concept of her husband's long-lost daughter, and his son has a busy lifestyle. Rachel ends up spending a lot of time with extended (and also shockingly wealthy) family touring China.

This series has turned into a soap opera - terrible at first, but once you're sucked in, you are addicted. The end of this book (the second in the series) left so much that I wanted to know more about. I went all the way out to my "local" bookstore so I could pick up the 3rd instead of waiting to have it shipped. I love the multitude of side characters so much more than Rachel and Nick.

Marian could sing, but she grew up in the Jim Crow era. She had to go to Europe to get experience and training. When she returned to the US, she couldn't perform in certain auditoriums. Eleanor Roosevelt left the DAR when they wouldn't allow her to use their concert hall. Marian ended up singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial instead.

Pretty pictures, gospel song snippets in the text, and a more in-depth look at the topic in the back of the book

Meg's horse dies unexpectedly during a show. To deal, she goes to work for the summer at a island B&B. The slower pace, the neighborhood hottie, and a non-show horse end up helping her. The book isn't about grief, really, but I'm too lazy to find another way to frame this. There really isn't a specific conflict.

I really wasn't expecting much - a YA book with horses that was self-published? But it really, really delivered. Even though it's January and about -4 degrees outside, it was summer in the den today. The smells, the sounds, the heat, the horses, it all added up to a big ol' smile. The characters were realistic and so was the island. The horse stuff was pretty spot on too (heh heh), and I am super picky about that. (PS - Be happy, ride an appy!)

A coffee-table photography book with aerial photos of some of the Hawaiian islands

I suppose back in the 1970s, when this was first published, these would have been even more breathtaking, but now it just seems outdated. There were a few photos that still took my breath away, but all the photos of the resorts and towns are more useful as history instead of visual art.

Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, is going after Zero Slick, a FTA. Zombies are taking over Trenton, NJ, and he seems involved. Diesel, a strange possibly-other-bounty-hunter from another series by the author, makes a guest cameo as an unwelcome house guest. Two of Rangers cars end up needed detailing from dudes in hazmat suits, but I won't spoil how Stephanie's bad juju makes those happen.

Typical Stephanie Plum. Damaged cars, will they or won't they with Ranger-Morell-Diesel, Lula being crazy, etc.

Jan 29, 9:20am

Jan 29, 3:27pm

It was really cute. I didn't even mean to buy it; I set a stack of my books down on a display and it ended up in my pile. I didn't even notice it until I got the bags out of the car! At least it turned out well!

Boy is shipwrecked with a horse. They save each other. Horse loves only the boy and is wild and dangerous around anyone else. Boy believes horse can defeat the odds and win a big race. Horse wins race. (Spoiler!) Just like every other pony book ever written but with the distinction of being one of the earlier ones.

It requires belief to be suspended. I can suspend belief all the time when reading - see shipwrecks, etc - but suspending horse disbelief is harder. I managed to do it this time, for once. Not sure if it's me or the book though.

Jan 29, 9:33pm

I'm reading all the way through this year (maybe - plans always change), and just finished Returns. I'm surprised how well they hold up. Most of the pony books I loved as a girl are almost unbearable to read as an adult, but these are really good reads as an adult. I'm more interested in the geography, for one, and find myself looking up landmarks and cities as I go.

Edited: Jan 31, 11:18pm

The Black's owner appears to claim him the day after someone tried to kill the Black. The Black moves back to Saudi Arabia, and Alec misses him. When the chance comes to travel to Saudi Arabia on a horse buying trip, Alec jumps on it, even though it means trekking across the desert in the 1940s.

Lots of cultural information (dated of course) is interspersed within the text. This one is full of mystery and adventure.

While the Black remains in Arabia, his weanling colt is shipped to New York for Alec to have. Satan received his sire's strength, but he hates everything and everyone. Alec and Henry have a difficult time breaking him.

Why would anyone name their horse Satan? You don't exactly start him off on the right track. Also, those guys are bat-s*** crazy. Just sell the dang horse before he kills someone.

Although in the 'Black Stallion world', the Island Stallion shares no characters with the rest of the series (yet). Steve goes down to visit a relative in the Caribbean, with the goal of visiting an island reputed to have a herd of feral horses. They find a secret entrance to the inner island and a herd of Spanish horses in a lush valley - along with several remnants of a conquistador outpost. Steve works to tame one of the horses and has an inner battle about whether he should risk telling others about the herd.

I can see how the Island Stallion series can get a bit mystical, but this one was decent. I kept waiting for Tom to find them, but at the end, remembered it was probably in another book (yep). There wasn't to big of a conflict, but some bits of this one were more stretching of the imagination than other books in the series.

Edited: Feb 1, 1:15am

Alec gets the Black back in the US, but he wonders - who is faster? The Black, or his son Satan? The International Race looks like a place to try both of them against the best competition in the world.

OK, I am horrified by the old testing method for EIA. Seriously? A quick google search led nowhere, but I plan to look at my old vet books to find out.

(Edit: Yes. 50 ml of filtered possibly infected blood was injected SQ into a host horse, which was watched for signs for 60 days. If the host horse was clear at that time, the donor horse was considered clear. This was just a confirmatory test in the 1950s. The main 'test' was clinical signs, a CBC, and necropsy. There was a well publicized outbreak of EIA in New England racehorses in 1947, likely influencing Farley's choice of plot device in this one.)

This has been a terrific reading month compared to normal. My partner has been trying to get me to read more and study less (for my mental health) for a very long while, and it was he who was encouraging me to spend so much money on books this month. Whelp, there goes money that I could have spent at the barn, but what was I to do? A professional conference with 30% off textbooks, a trip to one of my favorite bookstores that is 50% off everything since they are shutting down, and old gift cards that are burning a hole in my pocket all combined to make me spend more in one month than I have all last year (textbooks aside). It certainly was nice to go back to myself, even if it was only for a little while.

Edited: Feb 4, 3:20pm

Julia takes a job as a home care nurse in Louisiana, leaving her old life in PA behind. She knows her new employer is wealthy, but doesn't know who exactly they are until she gets there. The deVincent family is known to be cursed - the women involved always go insane or die mysterious deaths. She better stay away from the youngest brother, whom she had a one-night stand with before she knew who he was.

The smut level is strong with this one. Very strong. Within the first 40 pages you get a sex scene. But the plot is solid enough - it's a mystery/suspense - to keep your attention even more than the signature Armentrout romantic scenes. It does not exist solely to string along the naughty bits as so many other romances do. There are bread crumbs sprinkled throughout the book that don't get resolved though - I really hope it plays into the next book in the series, which comes out this summer. I'm so happy that Armentrout writes so fast! The scene of New Orleans was nicely done as well - it made me want to reread another book of hers set in the same city.

Also, jumping from so many children's books about horses to a romance like this one felt a bit pervy. Not sure how I will proceed from here.

Feb 9, 12:44pm

Ivy is a member of a secret society that fights evil fairies in New Orleans. Handsome Ren comes to town to find a halfling - the offspring of a fairy and human that is involved in a prophesy that will open the doors to the otherworld and ensure the earth's destruction.

I'm not really sure where to put this - new adult? romance? paranormal? It doesn't really fit a genre, and it doesn't need to, I guess. Although I usually love Armentrout's books, this series just doesn't do it for me. I read this when it first came out and wasn't inspired to keep track of the release of the others in the series. I thought a reread would be in order. I love one of the secondary characters, but I just don't feel it between Ren and Ivy. Ren seems shifty, even though I don't think he really is. The evil guys don't seem that evil, even though they are.

Ivy is captured by the Prince. She needs to escape before the prophesy can be forced upon her. She bargains for time, but is it enough?

Once again, love Tink and his bomb dropping, but the other characters could sink or swim. Ren still isn't cool enough. I can't remember if it was in this book or the third, in which I am in the middle of, where I lost attention and patience. I need to finish the darn thing, but it's terribly difficult to keep focused on it. How is this going to all be resolved in the last 100 pages? Is there a 4th book coming out in a year or something, or does it really just end quickly? This series is not recommended so far.

Edited: Feb 9, 1:39pm

>25 thornton37814:, >26 fuzzi:: I'd love to visit there as well. The Assateague park system has a nice facebook page, with photos of the wild birds and plants posted occasionally. A few years ago, we were thinking about visiting there, but it never happened. It would be so fun! Another area I'd like to see if the Grand Canyon. I visited when I was little, but not in the area of Brighty. I just saw an article in The Chronicle Untacked about a group trail ride down Brighty's trail - the photos looked so fun!

Feb 9, 1:38pm

>27 DFED:: I read them when I was younger, but haven't really read them since, aside from The Black Stallion Mystery and The Horse Tamer (my favorites in the series). It's interesting coming back to them after so long as compared to rereading a series I've read bits of every year (The Saddle Club). I find that I don't resent the fiction bits as much as I used to.

It's surprising how much I miss the illustrations that are in the first editions. It was odd and telling that a big part of the story was how the older men were upset about the changes to the sport and more specifically how the sport of harness racing was dying - and it was written in the 1950s. It really makes one view the panic about the state of racing today in a new light. Has the sport been "dying" since the mid-1800s? Or is it just people not liking change?

Edited: Feb 11, 2:45pm

>34 fuzzi:: At certain levels or flat racing, yes. Money has to be made to recoup costs, I guess. It's why I stick with either mixed meet racing (quarter horses, paints, Arabs) and at one time, point-to-points/chasing. Although I worked with quarters for some terrific owners, Arabian owners in particular were known to be invested for the horse and not for anything else. The horse always came first for most of those owners (at the track I was based at then, at least). For people newish to racing, I always recommend visiting the lower-level local tracks instead - nicer people, less money at stake. And now this is bringing up how much I miss my old track that shut down a few years ago. :(

I agree about the Blood Bay Colt as well. Less hokeyness.

Edit: And now I think we were talking about different changes. From someone on the "inside", so to speak, the big brouhaha is not about the few well-publicized catastrophic breakdowns that make the general news, and more about declining attendance and betting. I think that has less to do with specific changes in the sport (which has not changed that much) and more to do with the change in demographics and experiences of the general population. More people are growing up in more suburban settings and have very little experience with horses aside from a few riding lessons or pony rides at the fair, leaving them to think of all animals like they do their own anthropomorphized dog and cat pets. (Which, let me tell you, suffer far more than racehorses or animals raised for meat.) And there isn't a good solution to that. I do agree that the long-term changes like shuttling stallions to the southern hemisphere and longer racing seasons and larger stallions books are all for money and not for the good of the sport though!

Edited: Feb 11, 8:07pm

>35 alsvidur: thanks for your thoughtful response. I'm not an "insider", only a fan of racing since the early 1970s.

I despise the doping scandals, wish they didn't do that.

I hate seeing sound horses retired young for breeding, and regret that we probably won't see another Kelso or Forego, racing and winning well beyond their 3 year old season. I am very happy to see Enable will be returning as a 4 year old, looking forward to it.

Feb 12, 8:12pm

Feb 13, 10:35am

Feb 13, 11:31am

>36 fuzzi:: Both Kelso and Forego were geldings, so there was no money to be made in the breeding shed, only to be made at the track. :( I also think retiring a 3-year-old and putting them to stud is ridiculous. They're THREE!

>37 DFED:: Although I've had a copy of Man O War since I was in middle school, I've never actually read it! I'm looking forward to getting to it in my personal Black Stallion Challenge.

>37 DFED:, >38 fuzzi:: I can't remember that one, so it must not have freaked me out as much when I was younger, but I wasn't weirded out by much then. From the reviews I've read, it sounds like it's going to be a mind trip.

Edited: Mar 1, 12:24pm

Steve and Pitch are back on Azul Island. A foal injures itself and they need to take it to the main island veterinarian, but they're risking being found by Tom, who has been acting more and more violent. Tom finally sees them and trails them back to Azul.

I don't remember being quite so concerned about the human life at risk, but dang. The illustrations of crazed Tom certainly add to the text.

Feb 19, 12:46pm

>40 alsvidur: true, it's usually been the geldings that have dominated the older horse races. I appreciated California Chrome being raced as a four and five year old. And if you've seen the latest breeding news, he's a daddy to about a dozen nice-looking foals born in January and February.

Feb 19, 3:50pm

alsvidur - as someone who sees the Keeneland & Fasig-Tipton sales on a regular basis it is definitely all about the money! In no other industry would million dollar prices be based on, well, nothing! There's no way the most champion racehorse could make that money back in their lifetimes by racing. But by breeding...

Edited: Mar 1, 12:23pm

I needed a pick-me-up today so I flipped through some of my favorite picture books. Bunny and Me also comes in a board book edition, which I feel is much better suited to the appropriate age, but both formats are worth it! I love the Holland lop, old-fashioned coloring, and facial expressions.

The problem: it's book one of a series and it just came out. That's a long wait.

Zelie lives in a world where magic was destroyed by an oppressive king. The former magi are considered second class citizens. Zelie bumps into the runaway princess and discovers a way to get the magic back, but there is a quest, a prince, and some magic in the way.

I was impressed by the fifth sentence. Although I had to look up several types of clothing as I went, I still never managed to crawl my way out of the story. It was beautiful. One would think that it would go slowly since there are over 600 pages of the first part of her quest, but it was so detailed and layered, I never ever felt bogged down. I just wanted more and more. (I read this all day instead of studying. Oops.)

Mar 20, 4:08pm

Alright, I joined litsy as alsvidur. I got so excited when I first heard of litsy a year or so ago, but at that time, they didn't have it available for android. I'm trying it out now, but it seems like I need to be near a book to take a picture and post? That'll be tough to use in those spare moments at work. I'll figure it out soon enough.

Edited: Apr 3, 12:00pm

Emma is out of money, and her client still owes her for a wedding dress she sewed for him. When she goes to claim the money due, the duke has a different offer. As a spurned and scarred guy back from war, his options for securing his estates against his scheming cousin are slim without an heir. He offers her a marriage of convenience - money and a home for her and an heir for him.

This book is hilarious! And not in a terribad way, either. It seemed like a writer was given a list of things to include in her next book, and she managed to include them all! Unicorn vomit, a mangy cat, a quote from Elizabeth Warren, 'fake news', etc. It certainly does not make for an accurate historical novel, but does it matter? Just go into it knowing you will not be reading a Regency romance, but a humorous kind-of-fantasy romance. Also, so much smut. Thanks to MickyFine to the recommendation!

Izzy is awarded a castle from her godfather's will. When she goes to claim it, the current occupant refuses to leave. He suspects foul play from his solicitors, since he never signed any paper to sell the property. Izzy starts working as his secretary, since the duke is unable to read his own mail to figure out what's going on.

Not quite as funny as The Duchess Deal, but still an amusing romance. Another list of odd things being included - a trap door and hidden skeleton, a fan club and roleplaying, girls dressing up with penciled in mustaches, etc. I'll probably keep reading more of dare's works, but might take a break between them, since the details of each work tend to get smushed together since the stories are so similar.

Apr 7, 11:43am

Clio became engaged right as she came out, but it's been 8 years that her fiance has been traipsing about Europe and society has been gossiping about her. She goes to her fiance's brother to get him to sign the 'divorce' papers. She inherited a castle and has no need for a husband now.

Maddie, much like many girls, invents a beau to avoid awkwardness. She writes him fake letters addressed to fake addresses, etc. Her scheme goes well and she finally kills him off in war so that she can continue on a spinster. She has a castle now, so why bother? Until her made-up guy arrives on her doorstep one day.

Still humorous and ridiculous, but it knows it's ridiculous so that makes it even better.

You guys. This series is called "The Wanton Dairymaid". I'm serious. How can you not love a book in that series?

Lucy is crushing on a soon-to-be engaged friend of her older brother. To cause jealousy and interest, she convinces another friend Jeremy to pretend to court her. Jeremy goes along with this to spare Toby, Lucy, and Toby's intended awkwardness.

This book wasn't as solid as others by Dare. It seems broken in two - while everyone is courting and when everyone is married. The second half is nowhere near as fun as the first. It's too dramatic and full of people's issues.

I moved on to a contemporary novel, Hot for the Scot, and I keep waiting for the joke. I hope it's coming. Crofter's huts? A guy taking you on a gallop on his black stallion after pulling you from a lake? A famous athlete asking you out just because? Still waiting.... I think Dare' books got me used to being in on the joke.

Apr 10, 2:37pm

Sophia is running away from a loveless marriage in search of adventure (in the great wide somewhere.... sing it with me, kids!) She gets on a ship to the Caribbean to become a governess. On that ship is a bunch of former privateers though, including one named Gray.

The plot is terrific. You know how some romances seem like random words strung between the amorous scenes? This was NOT one of those. In act, the naughty bits were kind of slim in the one. That's ok with me; the book was terrific. The characterizations were fleshed out - even the secondary characters were lovely.

Isobel, Gray's sister, comes to England to find a husband that will give the her ability and money to help the less fortunate. She decides upon Toby, Sophia's jilted fiance, (or rather, Toby decides upon her).

Eh, not really feeling this pairing, but it was nice to have the characters from previous novels come into play.

Apr 13, 3:28pm

Today is Marguerite Henry's birthday - her 116th! She was born in 1902. I don't know why, but it doesn't seem like so long ago that her books came out. Are her books timeless? Am I just getting old? Hmm.. maybe I will read a bit later today instead of studying like I should.

Apr 13, 8:38pm

Edited: Apr 14, 6:37pm

King of the Wind is great, and my personal favorite is San Domingo: Medicine Hat Stallion. I collect her books; I have some signed first editions, but some are so dang hard to find that all I have is recent paperback releases.

Apr 14, 6:36pm

Minerva loves archaeology. The problem is that she has joined the Royal Geologic Society by using her initials instead of her first name, and now that she wants to go present her findings in person at a conference in Scotland, she needs an escort. Women aren't allowed, you see. She knows doing so will ruin her, so she decides to use the local rake to escort her to be extra sure she is considered ruined by normal society.

The author's first published work, this novella goes over the story of Cecily and Luke. Cecily has been pining for Luke while he was at war, but now that he is back, he seems different. Should she marry her childhood friend Denny instead?

Apr 14, 6:53pm

Many different species and crossbreds are given a page listing their basic requirements. Other topics, like potting material, pests, etc, have a few pages each.

It contains clear photos and basic info that a newbie like me needs. I only wish it was slightly more in depth, since it was so clear and easy to understand it made things less intimidating. I got this one at the Michigan Orchid Society show; I don't know if it's available in general.

Apr 17, 11:35am

Violet is hanging out by the wall at a ball, as usual, when a dashing stranger breaks through the door, speaking a language no one understands - no one but Violet, whose hobby is learning languages. Is he a French spy?

Diana and Aaron have been making eyes at each other (only when the other is definitely not looking) for a very long time. Aaron is the blacksmith, and Diana's mother has always strongly pushed her towards marrying a fancy lord - think Mrs Bennet in P&P, but worse.

A duke walks into the tea shop at Spindle Cove, instructed by his mother to choose any girl. The mother will make her into a duchess - she is sick and tired of Griff lazing about without producing an heir. Griff picks Pauline, the barmaid. Griff and Pauline come to an understanding - she will get some dresses and some time in London in exchange for humoring his mother for a week and failing to become a suitable partner for him.

Nora is on her way to Spindle Cove to speak on her pamphlet at the book store. In a fit of rage one night, she wrote a long letter to the suitor who left her, and it became a best seller. However, the weather does not cooperate on her way to town, and who does she end up sharing a coach with? The man the pamphlet is about.

Charlotte goes to warn Piers that her mother wants to 'set them up', but when she does, Charlotte and Piers are caught alone together. The only way to save Charlotte's reputation is for them to get engaged. Charlotte is not OK with that idea.

I love that I need to look up a word or so in each of these - that ever happens anymore. The romance is usually pretty nice, and the humor is on point. They are all well written romantic fluff. I am dreading running out of Dare's books - there is a book hangover waiting for me soon.

Apr 19, 9:30pm

Apr 20, 11:19am

>66 fuzzi:: Ooo, you should. Although, as an adult, it is a different read than as a child. When I was younger, I was in love with the idea of just you and your (colored) horse running across the wilds with no one else around. The ONLY thing that could have improved this for me was making the pony into an Appy intead. San Domingo tells the fictionalized story of a pony express rider named Peter and his beloved paint mustang San Domingo. There are some more adult issues that I didn't really pay attention to as much as I do now - some murder, harsh parenting, family members who deal with other adversities, etc. My other favorites, Black Gold and Justin Morgan, are recommended too, but really - I would recommend any of her books.

Edited: Apr 20, 11:58am

Oh my gosh, you guys. I am so tired that I had typed a paragraph summary of the wrong book just now. I can't even remember really the characters names for this one. I do remember that there was very little passion in The Passionate Endeavor (which I had searched for in vain as The Passionate Embrace, btw). I stayed up way past the time I was tired reading last night. Another book, not this one....

Charlotte is nursing the Duke when his son comes home from the war. They seemingly fall in love, but a long time ago the son had vowed to never marry.

The ratings and automatic recommendations on Barnes and Noble placed this book a bit higher than it deserved, I think. It wasn't terrible by any means, but the romance wasn't there, nor did I care a whit about the characters. The language and style was based off Austen; it even included quotes at the beginning of each chapter, but Austen it was not.

Edited: May 1, 4:46pm

Penelope was jilted by her fiance years ago. Since then, she has had few suitors. For the sake of his other daughters, her father adds a nearby property to her dowry to entice more suitors. Unfortunately, it entices the fallen-from-grace, gaming-hall-owning earl that Penelope grew up with.

Yay! I was really missing some humor in the last book, and this one delivered with humor and romance.

Apr 30, 4:22pm

>70 souloftherose:: I never really looked farther into it since the first time trying it, either from laziness or thinking that it seems to be geared towards popular fiction books than books in general.

I was at the Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event this weekend, and while I was there, I stopped by the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park. They have an exhibit on the Black Stallion books! I took a few pictures and will post them when I go through all the vacation photos.

Jill tells the story of how she got her pony, Black Boy, and how she entered her first gymkhana - games on horseback and horse show, for those not in the horsey set.

Jill is frightfully realistic about things - aside from the luck of living in a time when ponies could be purchased for a few hundred dollars and kept in your backyard and shed. There is some humor, even reading it for the first time as an adult.

It was a dream this weekend - reading this book for a few hours while I waited at the Head of the Lake for the cross country to start. It was a bit chilly, but other than that, heaven.

May 1, 12:46pm

I missed stopping at a lot of the other park attractions - the breed barn and the big barn horses were all turned out and we ran out of time before seeing USDF and USHJA hall of fames, but we stopped by the museum and gift store and walked through the hall of champions. It's ok though; I'll try to see the 3-Day again next year or so.

We went on a tour of Maker's Mark on the way home and bumped into an outrider. She even offered to pass my name on to become one (!) before I had to decline - lacking both a horse and a steady enough seat for now.

May 1, 2:46pm

My husband and I both volunteer driving a groom shuttle - we get the riders/grooms/equipment to and from the barns and vet box on Cross Country day. I think you hit the high points of the park though and I'm glad you got to tour Makers Mark - I haven't visited that particular distillery yet. Next time you come, we should meet up!

May 1, 4:21pm

Oooo... rubbing elbows with the riders! And kudos for driving the grooms around. I was baffled by the groom awards this year - if you groom the winning horse, you get $1000 plus a bunch of freebies, but if your horse is the best groomed you get a t-shirt and cookie jar. As a former groom, I wish it were reversed.

A horsey/booky meetup would be a blast!

We went to Joseph Beth and a Half Price books, but both Black Swan and Loch Lea Antiques were closed during the time we had free. Do you have other recommendations to visit? We get out to KY only about every year now, but I try to go more frequently if possible.

Pippa is very bookish and wants to be prepared and knowledgeable about things. She's engaged to a gentleman who is nice, but nothing special to her - he offered and she is not financially able to decline. She's OK with this, but she wants to understand the vows she's supposed to say in her wedding. How can she make those promises if she doesn't know what love is and doesn't know what really goes on in the bedroom? So she goes to her brother-in-law's gaming hell to ask one of the bosses to teach her.

Eh. Pippa is terrific, but Cross seems a bit too overwrought for me. Not terrible, but not recommended unless this is your genre.

Temple the fighter is known as the killer duke for killing his future step mother on the eve of her wedding, but he can't remember anything about the night. Then she turns up in front of his house one day.

There was little humor and the heroine was unsympathetic, so I didn't really like this one as much. The only redeeming thing about this is that there is a mic drop of epic proportions at the very end.

May 5, 5:56pm

A choose your own adventure romance satire, you are the heroine. What will you choose? Who will you choose?

I finished it by taking it to the end via 2 similar paths, each with a different ending - as a spy or with a Scottish rogue. I did note that there were a few options that SEEMED like options, but no matter what route you took, it took you to the same place. Others took you to the other option - your 'choice' ended up as simply what you read first or second. There were large portions of the book I didn't reach, and will save for different choices at a future rereading. As for the actual content of the book, it was really more of a satire than actual romance book: full of hilarious euphemisms, little character development, unlikely happenings, etc.

May 8, 9:23am

The first few pages show wild brown rats doing the stereotypical 'rat' activities. When the topic changes to why rats are not nasty, the author features different species of rats that don't look so off-putting to normal people.

I thought there was missed opportunity to show brown rats as the heroes instead of other species. Kudos for trying though!

May 25, 2:38pm

Temperance works hard at her orphanage but she's about to lose it to creditors. A wealthy lord comes up and asked for her help finding someone in her neighborhood.

I was hoping this one would be better than it was. For some reason, I have lower standards of books when they are e-books on my Nook opposed to book form - the same material that seemed great online was not so great in print. Hoyt's written so many works though, it would be great if I liked them, so I will be giving the next in the series a try.

Beauvallet is a privateer for Queen Elizabeth. On a trip to the West Indies, he captures a Spanish ship with a Spanish lord and his daughter. Beauvallet vows to marry the daughter, but only by showing how daring he is - by first dropping the daughter off safely in Spain, and by then returning to Spain to woo her, even though he is a wanted man.

Eh. It wasn't terrible, but I guess I was expecting a bit more from an author that so many people love. I will try a Regency novel next, since those are supposed to have been her specialty.

Lucy and Josh are secretaries for co-CEOs of a publishing company, and they do not get along. When their bosses open up a new position, they are now in direct competition.

Why did I wait so long to read this one? I guess I appreciated it more now than I would a few years ago, and I don't have quite as long of a wait until her next book comes out, but this is a good one. I'm always wary of books that are "NAME: A Novel" because usually they have delusions of being Literature with a capital L, but really are just made for TV dramas. This was not like it at all - just a straight up romance or even a rom-com. It's a bit explicit, which i was not expecting. The banter was nice though, and there was no obscenely crazy plot twist like in lesser romances.

Jun 12, 4:34pm

Bex goes to England on an exchange student semester. The prince lives in her dorm. They become friends and start dating. It's the prince, though, so there's drama.

So realistic (even involving a prince) that it was almost a bit boring. Just normal relationship stuff mostly. Read it since it was recommended for fans of The Hating Game. Not bad, but not great. Not even that romance-y, more like chick lit.

Friends agree to help each other catch husbands. Annabelle needs one with money. Her friends agree to help set her up with a particular lord, but of course that's not who pursues her - a rake that kissed her and left her years ago.

I really had to think hard and read some other reviews to even remember this one, but it was so 'eh' that I went to another author instead of finishing the series. I might go back to them later.

Three friends agree to teach some gentlemen some life lessons, but of course they end up choosing gentlemen that they are interested in. Georgiana selects a man who used her and left her years ago. She endeavors to teach him to not use others - by using him. (?)

So this one also took awhile to get me really hooked (or hooked at all), but when it did, it really got me. There was such an unexpected plot twist that I dropped the book and bounced around the house gasping in laughter.

Jun 16, 6:40pm

Three friends agree to teach some gentlemen some life lessons, but of course they end up choosing gentlemen that they are interested in. Evie selects a man who is on the board of the orphanage she wishes to patron. her goal is to teach him to have a heart.

This one took me in much sooner than the first in the series. It made me sad that the next is not so cheap on the Nook. I migth have to raid the nearest used book store for a cheaper option.

A continuation of the Maiden Lane series. The duchess Hero is all set to marry the perfect man - good breeding, etc, and who cares if there isn't love? Then she meets his rakish brother.

I loved how some side stories continued - Silence and the orphanage, the Ghost of St Giles, etc. The mysteries continue! All these romances are starting to blend together, TBH, but each one is a good read. I will also look for the next in this series.

Required for class. There were some really nice tips. I think I resent this book only because for class I had to completely rewrite and format my resume to match his style instead of picking and choosing what I'd like to rework.

Simon has a problem. He recently returned to England after a tour of the world and all of the mothers in society are pestering him about their daughters. To get some peace, he decides to partner with his friend's sister - she will seem more in demand if a duke is interested in her, and he will get the debutantes and their mothers off his back. Too bad Daphne starts to fall for him, even though he has vowed to never marry.

This made me feel squidgey. There were some tropes that were just out of my comfort zone. Kind-of rape? Kind-of entrapment? Plus some things that needed to be worked out between the characters.... Eh, not my cup of tea.

Edited: Jun 22, 12:39pm

Delaney is struggling to become a pastry chef when she witnesses a mob hit at her restaurant. As she's running, she hides in a nondescript building. It's a matchmaking service. Thinking fast, she grabs a file of a girl set to meet her match across the country and pretends to be her. What she doesn't know is that the matchmaking service caters to paranormals. She's all set to meet a vampire, but she doesn't know it - doesn't even know vampires exist.

This is a read as light as the title. (Which is good, because I bought it simply because of the title.) I'd probably continue reading the rest in the trilogy if they weren't so pricey on the Nook.

Jun 26, 11:59am

Lizzy works at a bakery in Salem, MA. A burly dude comes into her life telling her that they both have supernatural powers and need to hunt down a stone that inspires gluttony to prevent the world from exploding. She goes along with this.

This is exactly Stephanie Plum but with supernatural bits - exploding car, odd pet, hot dude that provides money and cars, and tracking things down included.

Lizzy and Diesel are looking for the stone of greed and need to find it before everyone else does. (Notice a theme here?)

This one was much more engaging. The characters seemed a bit more rounded as opposed to simply checking off random plot points as the other book left me feeling. I'm interested in where the Wulf plot line will go. Too bad it's the last of the written series so far...

Early Reviewers. A boy finds a newly-born foal stuck in a gopher hold and helps him stand for the first time. They become friends until the boy's father sells the horse. Later, the boy and the horse find each other again.

The layout and design was a bit hard to follow at times, but it was doable. The book didn't rock my socks off, but there was nothing particularly 'wrong' with any aspect. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Jul 6, 12:15pm

Eleanor has a lonely life, but she is not lonely. Someone new starts at work and they find a gentleman that had collapsed in the street.

I have no idea why every review and blurb called this insightful and hilarious. It is not a fluffy book. It is not chick lit. It is about a mentally disturbed woman who was abused as a child, represses memories, and drinks. Not funny-drinks-wine, but is an alcoholic. I guess people are amused with her insight, but they are the exact thoughts we've all had. She goes through her day like many of us do. I am baffled why people think this is a funny book. Not what I was expecting at all. (Other than that, it was readable and nothing was terribly wrong with it.)

Edited: Jul 17, 2:03pm

Diana is a historian, spending time hanging out at the Oxford library looking through old manuscripts. Raised by her pagan aunts after her anthropologist parents were killed when she was a child, she has a fairly quiet life. That is, until she bumps into a vampire in the library. Supernatural creatures are interested in a manuscript she found - so interested that they're willing to kill for it.

This book! The descriptions of place, time, etc were detailed and evocative. I am by no means a foodie (if I could eat kibble for humans, I would), but here food descriptions had me wanting to try new things and had me drooling. It's like that for everything. The smells and lighting - you get a great picture. The plot was interesting and driving too - the book is over 700 pages and it still didn't fit enough in. I had to take away a half star - the characters weren't really fleshed out as they could be. I kept waiting for more romance, but alas, just longing glances and protective vampires. I made sure to go out to the book store to get the rest of the series before I reached the end of this one.

Diana and Matthew go to Elizabethan England! I don't want to say much more for fear of spoilers.

The beginning section was a bit much for me - there are lots of famous historical characters that I was unfamiliar with and it took a hundred pages or so before I sorted them out well enough. There was really no romance or plot for that brief section, so my interest started to drop a tiny bit, but it picked up immediately in the new section and flew by.

This series is not one you can finish in a day though - each book is hefty with a large amount of text per page. While it was a drag holding up a heavy book in bed at first, by the second book I got used to it. The covers are on point (en pointe?)! Now on to the third!

Edited: Jul 17, 2:04pm

Matthew and Elizabeth come back to modern day and have to deal with the coup and attempt to bring down the covenant.

I couldn't believe that everything was tied up so quickly after all of that. It wasn't rushed, but there was only about 100 pages left in the book and given how in depth the rest of the series was, I doubted it could be done. Nope. All done. Looking forward to the continuation of Marcus's story this fall.

Edited: Jul 24, 11:22am

Aerin knows that the villagers whisper about her witch mother ensnaring her father the king. She bears it, but misses her deceased mother. She falls in with her father's old war horse and brings him back to health while working on a recipe to prevent being burned by dragons. She goes on a quest to save her nation (can't really say more without getting spoilery).

Nicely done. I have so many romance novels to read for book club, but can't stomach anything so bare yet. I'm going to stick with kids books or fantasies for the moment.

Paul and Maureen want a special wild pony so badly, they work all spring to save up money to buy her at the annual auction of wild island ponies. They manage to get her into the auction along with her little foal Misty.

I get a bone-deep happiness and a feeling that all is right when I read Henry.

Jul 24, 4:38pm

Jul 25, 1:43pm

Me too! We were planning on going for a vacation one year but never got around to it. Kyle brought it up again this year, so maybe that'll be next year's trip. I also really want to go on a week-long trail ride down the Bright Angel trail where Brighty roamed, and visit the UVM horse farm to see the Justin Morgan statue! So many vacation ideas through pony books!

Jul 29, 5:37pm

I will stand by San Domingo to the death. It's a bit more mature than some of her other works, but I think the whole boy and his pony against the world - plus the bit of longing involved that most girls have - mixed with the more mature themes and growing up, and 'cowboys and Indians' and paints/Mustangs make a more realistic picture. The only poor point for San Domingo that goes in King of the Wind's favor is that no artist can match Wesley Dennis. On the other hand, I don't know if Dennis's softer images would match the text as much as the line ink drawings by Lougheed.

Jul 29, 6:31pm

Jul 30, 7:08am

Jul 30, 9:58am

Mustang was always my favorite - I was so shocked that beautiful mustangs would be treated that way!! I've actually got a book about Wild Horse Annie on my bookshelf waiting to be read. However, San Domingo was right up there in my favorites. I think Misty is the gateway drug to the rest of Henry's works :)

Edited: Aug 3, 1:42pm

This is basically a 90-page brochure on Herm Sprenger products, mostly bits. There were a few pages on stirrup irons and spurs, but most of it was on bits. A chapter or two was on anatomy and why fitting bits is important, and a few chapters were on the different bits HS produces.

While the chapters on fitting were no more enlightening than any other book on tack, it was nice to know why the metal they use in their bits is so darn special and expensive. It was also good to know that they make their bits in millions of sizes - width, thickness, and ring diameter - which begs the question, why does no tack store carry more than one or two? I know no one at my current barn cares about properly fitting tack, but doesn't the rest of the US? Why can't we get that selection here? And why are all the good products German and a pain to import/buy in the US? Just some musings....

Aug 12, 6:15pm

Vampires are at war - the Breed is out to exterminate those lost to bloodlust. One woman witnesses some lost vampires feeding on someone and gets entangled in the vampire world.

So I started a smutty book club at work since so many coworkers read romances and other fluff. This was the first month's selection from Janice.

I didn't care 2 figs about the characters, but the plot points were very interesting, as was the concept of breedmates and the vampire set up. I just wish the romance were more fleshed out. This was almost like a poor man's Black Dagger Brotherhood. It did take a bit for me and others in the group to get through the first half.

Lara Jean writes love letters that she never sends instead of dealing with things head on. The batch of letters (to 5 in all) gets sent out by her little sister. In order to save face in front of a family friend/sister's ex, she and one of the recipients decide to fake a relationship. In book two, another of the recipients comes calling. In book three, Lara needs to decide where to go to college.

In honor of the Netflix adaption, which I think is one of the best book-film adaptations I've seen, I re-read the series. I've watched the film about 9 times this week. I may have a problem, but how long has it been since we had a John Hughes-esque good teen rom-com?

Since it has been a year or so since the original read, the film seemed to get the feeling of the books, if not a few of the details that I stumbled upon during the re-read. The thing I did miss the first viewing was how even the girls called themselves the Covey sisters instead of the Song sisters. Other events happened in the second book, or a bit differently, but I think it was still handled with excellence.

It focuses on some of the 'grosser' animals in an attempt to make pink less girly, I think. Or at least equal to other colors in the animal kingdom? Either or. It was cute and age appropriate for elementary school in terms of learning, illustrations, and keeping kids attention. Not the most fun for adults though, that's the only reason I didn't rate it higher - *I* simply wasn't in love with it, although it really deserves a 4 or 5 for what it is.

Aug 25, 1:07pm

Side story in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. Zuzana has a crush on Mik, a violinist at her marionette theater in Prague. She decides to suck it up and do something about it, but wants to make the night a bit magical.

This is the first time reading the illustrated version. Zuze is not what I pictures her like and neither is Mik, but the illustrations were in line with the feel of the story.

Aug 28, 10:47am

Emmy and Oliver were close friends when they were little, but Oliver was kidnapped in second grade by his father. It's high school now, and he's been found and has come back to his hometown.

The plot was original, and the story and characterizations were great. It just seemed to fall into trope territory at the end though. I got it because there aren't many books around here that feature surfing; that bit was a nice treat.

Edited: Sep 4, 2:25pm

Bianca has things going on - her mother is never home, her dad is a recovering alcoholic, her best friends keep dragging her to this teen club hangout, and the slutty hot boy in her school keeps talking to her so her friends will want to hook up with him.

A bit darker than I thought it would be, but well written enough that I'm intrigued by other books the author has written.

Juliet receives a letter just after the war - a man in Gurnsey has found one of her old books and wishes to get her advice on finding more books by that author. Juliet corresponds with him and others on the island.

Edited: Sep 4, 2:25pm

Dimple loves coding. When her parents allow her to go to a summer coding camp at the local university, she's ecstatic. Until she finds out that they planned to have her meet a boy there they want her to marry.

Edited: Sep 16, 12:26pm

Selina Kyle grows up on the rough streets of Gotham City before being recruited into the League of Assassins. She goes back to Gotham on a mission, but ends up living next door to Batwing.

I was not into the story. I baught it because I love Maas and thought maybe I would just love anything she wrote. I do, but I still am not into reading about Gotham. I have no idea why my SO loves Batman so much - it's just too dark and depressing. The characters were good. I would probably read another about them by Maas since she takes her time crafting them. It got better throughout, but not enough for me to adore it like her other series.

Edited: Sep 16, 12:25pm

It is Lucinda's turn to choose a gentleman to reform, but at this point, the pretense is dropped, and her friends are all aware that it's really picking a suitor. She picks someone who doesn't really need any lessons in manners, but is amiable and uncomplicated. Too bad her friend's brother-in-law home from the war has decided to make his return to society.

Edited: Sep 25, 11:11am

Reading will be going a bit more slowly now - I had a TBI from falling from my horse last week. I'm not supposed to be reading at all, but you know how that goes.... I'll just make the font on my nook really big. :)

Retelling of Lysistrata. Lissa is sick of her boyfriend leaving her to do rivalry things with the rest of the football team. She wants the rivalry between the football and soccer teams to end. She convinces the rest of the team girlfriends to withhold affection until the boys agree to call it off.

A mystery featuring a 'loose-cannon cop that got drummed off the force'. Elena is hiding from her old life working in Wellington for the horse show season. A girl comes to her asking for help finding her missing older sister. Elena goes hunting.

Oct 16, 11:50pm

Yeah, I'm doing better. It took about a week for the headache to go away. I ended up not needed surgery (yay!) for the subdural hematoma, but the concussion was a bear. I wasn't able to communicate well or concentrate for a few days and I had some physical signs as well. I still feel like it shook loose a few brain cells sometimes - it's easy to blame that over just getting older and more stupid. :)

I was SO lucky that I got a new helmet for my birthday just 2 days before the fall; my old helmet didn't fit right and the fall could have been a lot worse. Everyone at the barn was surprised that I was so happy when I came back. I just think that I was lucky. If I was going to have an injury like that, better with a good helmet, where other people were around (for me but also to catch the horse), when I had insurance, and where I knew the nearest hospital was as opposed to what could have happened 15 years ago - kicked by a colt when I didn't have insurance or even workmen's comp, in a barn by myself with someone else only checking in once a day, and in a different area of the country. I am so very glad that things worked out how they did.

Oct 17, 9:25am

alsvidur - how scary and sorry to hear about your fall! One of my best friends received a concussion several years ago from playing volleyball and she's still dealing with the effects :( I'm so glad you had on a new helmet - make sure you get another one before you ride again. Sorry to hear about reading too - not being able to read (for whatever reason) is awful!

Oct 28, 11:26pm

Since I used to post during slow times at work and I have a new job (same field, same job, just different business), it seems like it might be awhile between posts now. I've never worked at a place that blocked most of the internet before.

The Sweet Smell of ChristmasDog Loves DrawingMister Bud Wears the ConeDonald Duck and the Witch Next DoorThe Werewolf Meets His Match (also add to collections)Dead Until Dark(add last Throne of Glass book to collections)

Nov 6, 8:29am

>126 alsvidur: They've tightened security here on campus. We keep finding links we've stored for students to use on certain topics which now are blocked. We also find that many links to blog articles colleagues send often are blocked by the firewall. We're being judicious in what we send to IT to unblock, but it's getting annoying.